It has been a while since I last updated this blog but this incident today really triggered by my-long-been-stagnant-fingers to lift it again back into writing. Well, this time I’m writing my own rant on this piece of space I have so here we go.

I went to one of Verizon Wireless’ Store, this one in Orange Park, Jacksonville, Florida. I came here accompanied by an american family member.

Reason is, we wanted to include the prepaid-Verizon mobile phone into our existing account. Take note, I’m an existing customer. The main guy we came for was assisting other customers when we came. He’s a taller guy and he’s the one who initially opened our accounts at the store, let’s just call him guy A. Guy A is kinda busy, he though recognized our presence, approached us and since he’s with a customer at the moment, we recommended that we talk to a different guy that can assist us, let’s call him smaller bald guy B. Bald guy B, from the way he approached us doesn’t feel like it being passed with the job of assisting us came over. He didn’t even shook hands or introduced himself, sort of like forgetting the “business-like” and “professional” attitude, which I find a little different, sort of, obliged to do but really don’t like doing it. He began to asks questions about our concern. I told him it was a prepaid phone that we bought and would like to be added to our existing post-paid account. He seemed very uptight and don’t feel like doing the task, he doesn’t seem to understand the concern. After asking for names, addresses and what not, he asked for a phone number where the prepaid mobile phone number’s going to be tied into. I guess, I wasn’t sure about his question at first, I said I gave you the number. The person with me who’s the main account holder told the store agent that it’s in his account’s phone number. I think the right question to ask is “what is the phone number of the account that you want this prepaid mobile phone to be associated with or added to or linked to. Instead, he felt upset and started stomping. He grabbed the phone and said he will check in the system but apparently he got upset. The person with me said so, the agent got upset. Why? Is that because I wasn’t able to answer his question the very first time he asked? Was it because he felt we are bothering him because it’s not really his job to assist us because the person that was supposed to was attending to other customers in the store?

So guy B came back, told us we cannot add the prepaid phone towards our existing account because the prepaid mobile number has not been active or used for six months. While getting this information didn’t take that long and not very painful, why can’t the “rudeness” and “stomping-like-a-child attitude” had to come out towards us deliberately? I don’t get it really.

Guy B then told us, without hesitation and with pride, that we need to buy a new phone if we would like to retain the prepaid phone’s number. So that’s an upsell now! While I don’t care about the upsell, I would care much about the attitude that was shown towards me. Is that because I’m Asian? How dare you even upsell into our face when your attitude few minutes back was very unaccommodating? I wouldn’t even hire that kind of attitude if I ever own a food truck. There’s no way I’m going to bite that upsell after that unfriendly and childish attitude.

Guy B says, I’d suggest you buy a new phone so we can use the prepaid mobile’s number and not lose it and then we can connect/link it to your existing post paid account with us. The person accompanying me said, “do you like to buy a new phone?” I said, “I’m not sure.” Guy B said, “I’ll let you guys pick which phones you like from there (pointing at the model phones on the wall behind us) if you’re able to decide”. He then left. I followed him with my eyes as he goes toward the backdoor of the store, very visible from where I stand, he open the door and talked to someone inside with some gesture of the arms wide open held up, like the upset gesture, “these guys suck, unbelievable” hand gesture, if you understand what I’m trying to say here. I was like, ohh, I see, he’s now back to “I’m disappointed” mode. That kind of attitude will not even convince me to buy a new phone or worse, not even renew my contract after two years. Believe me, I will not embrace this kind of attitude towards customers.

And the Asian thing, yes, that’s so true. I’m Asian but I’m not stupid and I can understand English very well, the question is just wrong, that’s why I didn’t get it at first. I worked in the customer service via BPOs before, and what do we ask the customer when we don’t get the questions right at first? We ask politely. Agent/Guy B did not. He got upset, stomped and walked away. That’s very professional, Verizon? Wow, if that’s the kind of customer service you are giving your customers at your stores, I would never want to step back in. Never. And don’t call me about the racist thing, because I’ve just been to a museum, and pretty much coincidentally, I was inside the gallery of African American Civil war, that dark moment between blacks and whites, when a white lady guard ask me to stay away from the photos coz I’m very near it, it might fell off the wall and she didn’t stop from there, she followed us (me and my companion) in all the galleries like we’re thieves trying to filfer something.

Yes, racism happens still today. In the museum at the civil war gallery, very coincidental indeed, and inside a Verizon Wireless store, who should be in the forefront of establishing better communications between races and people end up being the first to violate moral standards of respect.

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